The invention relates to a HV-battery, in particular a traction battery for a vehicle, having several cell modules, each of which including several cells, with a control for cell monitoring and/or for cell balancing being associated to each cell module, with the controls being connected to a battery management control unit for communication and/or open-loop or closed-loop control purposes.
HV-batteries (high-voltage batteries) are used, e.g., as traction battery for hybrid vehicles. Metal hydride batteries or lithium-ion batteries are used as batteries. Single cells of the battery are connected in series so as to provide the voltage necessary for an electric motor.
EP 1 577 966 A2 discloses a modular traction battery having a plurality of individual battery cells. The individual battery cells can be stacked to provide a traction battery with a desired voltage and a desired capacity.
US 2007/0087266 A1 proposes a modular battery system having several battery modules which are connected in series. The state of battery modules is ascertained by a monitoring device.
US 2009/0130541 A1 discloses a battery comprised of many individual cells, with an integrated circuit being associated to each of the cells. This circuit is used as a controller for monitoring the cells, in addition, a communication module is provided to exchange information with other control devices. The controllers are mounted on the side of the cells.
A traction battery with a plurality of lithium-ion cells is known from EP 1 526 601 A1. The individual cells are combined into a module, a controller determines state values for each module and transfers them to a higher-level controller.
A special battery module is described in EP 2 244 319 A1. The battery includes a monitoring circuit for monitoring state parameters of individual cells. In addition, an interface for an external controller is provided.
Although some of the mentioned conventional HV-batteries are of modular construction, the presence of a central electronic module or a control (controller) is normally required so that the structure of the HV-battery is inflexible and prevents complete modularization.